Adornment device

ABSTRACT

The invention is directed to a decorative attachable unit for attachment in the hair of the wearer. A coiled spring element which is normally compressed is supported at the rear side of the unit with a means provided to expand the spring for insertion of hair strands between the turns. With spring release the inserted hair strands are gripped between adjacent spring coil turns.

United States Patent Heikes [451 Jan. 18, 1972 [54] ADORNMENT DEVICE 2,379,060 6/1945 Bacheldor ..24/254 2 442 295 5/1948 Kuendel..... ...24/248.l ik t B [72] Inventor Norman L He es, San a arbara Calif 2,842,825 7/1958 Bangs I I I "24/252 [73] Assignee: Pantec Development Company, Santa Bar- 3,201,952 8/1965 Triangolo ..l32/47 X bara, Calif.

[22] Filed: Dec. 12 1969 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-J. N. Eskovitz 1] PP 884,459 Attorney-Samuel B. Smith 52 us. Cl. ..l32/46 R [57] ABSTRACT [51] II.- Cl- ..A45d 8/00 The invention is directed to a decorative attachable unit for [581 new of Search 46; attachment in the hair of the wearer. .A coiled spring element 24/254 63/2 20 which is normally compressed is supported at the rear side of the unit with a means provided to expand the spring for inser- [56] References Cited tion of hair strands between the turns. With spring release the UNITED STATES PATENTS inserted hair strands are gripped between adjacent spring coil turns. 649,465 5/1900 Littell et a]. ..132/47 666,860 l/ l 901 Buzzaeott 132/47 8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAMBHYE 3.635.228 SHEET 2 [IF 2 INVENTOR NORM/M L. HEM 6 BY ATTORNEY ADORNMENT DEVICE This invention relates to adornments or ornaments particularly adapted for use as costume jewelry to be worn in the hair.

Ornaments of this character have been popular with women at many times and often in a more or less cyclic pattern. It has always been the practice and habit of a large percentage of women to adorn any visible area of the body. However, in a large measure, hair ornaments have usually failed to sustain popularity.

While this is undoubtedly due to fashion, in many cases, it also undoubtedly comes about because of the past difficulties of retaining the ornament in its position reliably in the hair except when the hair is knotted into what is usually termed a bun. At the present time this styling is no longer popular and, thus, is little used.

It is essential that any hair ornament shall be one which is stable and capable of being tightly held to the hair and retained in any selected position without fear of dislocation. The ornaments heretofore offered to the buying public usually were fastened by squeezing a bank of hair between two elongated members. With this practice the hair would usually redistribute itself to a more compact cross section in a short time and the ornament would either fall off completely or slide to an undesired position which would often be to the wearer's risk. In addition, a carefully arranged coiffure was usually disrupted by the very manner in which the clamping was provided.

With this background the present invention is intended to be simply and positively secured to the hair by a combing action which is not disruptive to the coiffure. Further than this, the ornament of the present invention is one which is not only inexpensive but is adaptable to practically any form of omament and, once secured, will not slip until deliberately removed.

By the present invention the clamping unit is a helical metal spring. The spring is so wound that it is under substantial compressive force even when fully compressed. A bracket of suitable width is supported on the reverse side of the ornament and the spring is held thereto in a position which is both parallel and adjacent to the backside of the ornament bracket. The spring is so fastened to the bracket as normally to hold the assumed retracted position. The spring is secured to suitable means also fastened to the back of the bracket so that when such means is moved or turned from a rest position the spring is subjected to an expansion of its turns.

Such an expansion of the spring separates its several coils thereby to permit either pressing or combing it into the wearers hair. A release of the expansion means at once permits a compression of the spring so that in its compressed state the spring can clamp, grip or lock the hair between the several turns of the compressed coils. The clamping force on each separate helical turn of the coiled spring may not be particularly great, nevertheless the force between the adjacent turns is duplicated as the spring is compressed. This effect, when translated to the entire spring consequently means that the holding force is multiplied by many times in holding the hair. It also means that the individual coils automatically compensate for the redistribution of the multiple strands of hair.

The removal of the ornament or decoration is achieved by following the program in precisely the opposite fashion by which the coil turns are again separated and the holding force is removed.

With the foregoing in mind it is clear that a primary object of the invention is to provide an ornamental decoration adapted to be held securely in the hair while having the great advantage of being supportable at almost any chosen location and either attachable or removable instantly by the mere movement to collapse or open a helical spring element which is secured to the ornament in an out-of-sight position but which can either grip or release the hair at the will of the wearer.

Other objects are those of providing a hair ornament which is light, easily held and removed and which can be worn in any desired position without having any disrupting effect upon the chosen coiffure.

Other objects and advantages should become apparent to those skilled in the art and yet they will be made further apparent when the following description of a preferred form of the invention is considered along with the accompanying drawings and the claims appended.

By the drawings,

FIG. l is an environmental view;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows with the spring member closed and hair captured between the spring coils;

FIG, 3 is a rear elevational view along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2 with the spring member in a closed position;

FIG. 4 is a view (somewhat enlarged) looking along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a somewhat enlarged view generally similar to FIG. 2 looking along the line 5-5 of FIG. 6, but with the spring coils extended for ornament placement or removal; and

FIG. 6 is a view generally similar to FIG. 3 with setting coils in extended or open position.

If reference is now made to the drawings for a further understanding of the invention it will become apparent that the decorative adornment unit may be of any and many various shapes and forms, one of which is exemplified by the numeral 11. In another form the adornment may assume the shape of a flower with or without petals and usually having a stem portion extending outwardly therefrom. In another form which is equally usable the adornment may be in the general form of a medallion and have a design appropriate to some selected use.

A backing element 15 is normally attached to the reverse side (which, in use, will be the hidden side of the adornment). This backing element is held securely to the rear adjacent side of the adornment and serves generally the function of provid ing a support structure for the mounting unit generally shown at 17, which will hold the adornment to the hair of the wearer. Of course the backing or support structure 17 should itself be light and yet sufficiently rigid and strong to support the various components which will serve as the attaching structure. Often the support structure of the backing element can be stamped out of a piece of thin brass or aluminum which is very light in weight and yet sufficiently strong to serve as the desired holding and carrying unit.

The backing element is not a fundamental part of the invention although it makes for a ready way to mount the spring element 21, as will be further described. In this instance the spring element will be mounted on the back of the adornment unit 11.

The tightly coiled spring element 21 is usually positioned adjacent to the backing element on the side thereof remote from the adornment, although, as above stated, it may, at times, be held on the adornment. In one form of the invention, one end 23 of the spring element 21 is adapted normally to be held in a fixed position relative to the backing 15 so that the spring expansion must take place in one direction only.

The opposite end 25 of the spring element 21 is fastened to an element which is capable of moving the free end in a direction approximately axially of the coil turn centers. Any extension of the spring in such direction tends to spread the various turns of the spring from a position where each turn is compressed relative to each other turn. With the spring in a compressed state, which will be its normal position, it will be in a state where anything placed between any of the turns will be very tightly held.

One suitable control element for expanding the spring element 21 is a bellcrank lever element 27 which has its pivot (usually central) section connected at 29 to the backing element 15. One end 31 of the bellcrank lever is secured to the spring end 35 (the end opposite the fastened end 23). The opposite end 27 of the lever usually has an upturned end portion 37 which is adapted to be moved by the user, thereby to turn the unit about its pivot point. The length of the arms of the bellcrank lever may or may not be equal, but usually the arm with the upturned end or the thumb or finger activating element 37 is shorter so that a limited movement will produce a greater arcuate movement of the end attached to the spring end 33 and thus spread the coil turns more readily.

The arm length, of course, can be a matter of choice and fitted to the needs of the user. The user holds the lever 27 while placing the hair strands therein and then when the lever is released the compressive force of the spring will turn the bellcrank lever in a direction to recoil the spring with its turns placed closely adjacent to each other. The are through which the movable spring end is moved by the turnings of the lever about its pivot is usually so small that the overall spring extension takes place along a path which departs but a negligible amount from one which is axial of the coil itself.

With the expansion of the coil turns, regardless of how this may take place, the coil turns are spread apart and the one intending to use the adornment is able to place any desired number strands of hair 39 between the turns and then, with release, the lever element will turn and permit the spring turns to close to hold the adornment tightly in place.

While it is not illustrated, it is, of course, clear that various other means may be relied upon to expand the spring. Any suitable form of slider element may be held freely or within a guide element. The holding of the spring in its extended state for such a slider may be in any desired fashion and, per se, does not constitute any specific part of the present invention but represents one alternative contrasted with the bellcrank.

In another form it is apparent that the spring may be fixed to the backing at some suitable point between its ends. Then, to get greater movement expanding means may be secured to each free end of the spring. Also, the precise manner of securement may vary within wide limits.

Various other modifications are also possible and should fall fairly within the spirit and scope of what is herein set forth, taught and claimed, with one of these modifications being of a type such that the backing element can be omitted and the spring means directly attached to the ornament.

I claim:

1. A decorative attachable unit particularly adapted to be worn as a hair adornment comprising a substantially planar decorative element,

a coiled spring element having two ends and adapted normally to be held in its compressed state with its longitudinal axis substantially parallel'to and spaced from the plane of and at the rear side of said decorative element with each coil turn of the spring being substantially adjacent to the turn on each side thereof,

means for anchoring the spring element to said decorative element in a fixed location relative thereto when the spring is in a compressed state, and means for expanding said spring element comprising a lever connected to one end of said spring element for temporarily increasing, with its activation, the straight-line distance between its ends and thereby separating the turns of the spring element so that strands of the hair of the wearer of the adornment can be inserted between the coil turns and, upon release of the spring expanding means, will be securely gripped between the adjacent spring coil coil turns, said lever also being in pivotable connection with said anchoring means at a position substantially adjacent said one end of said spring element. 2. The adornment unit claimed in Claim 1 wherein said lever is a bellcrank lever.

3. The adornment claimed in claim 2 comprising, in addition, means to limit the angle of bellcrank movement.

4. The adornment unit claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition,

means for temporarily holding the spring in an expanded state prior to release to grip the hair of the intended user. 5. The unit claimed in claim 1- wherein a backing element is secured to the rear side of a visible adornment of selected design, and

means to attach the springto the backing element. 6. The adornment unit claimed in claim 1 comprising, In addition,

means to secure the spring at a point between its end in its compressed state to the rear side of the unit, and means for stressing and expanding the spring relative to its securement point. 7. The unit claimed in claim 2 comprising, in addition, an activating element at one end of the lever for controlling the spring expansion for attachment and spring compression for securement. 8. The adornment unit claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition,

means for expanding the coiled spring element from each of its ends. 

1. A decorative attachable unit particularly adapted to be worn as a hair adornment comprising a substantially planar decorative element, a coiled spring element having two ends and adapted normally to be held in its compressed state with its longitudinal axis substantially parallel to and spaced from the plane of and at the rear side of said decorative element with each coil turn of the spring being substantially adjacent to the turn on each side thereof, means for anchoring the spring element to said decorative Element in a fixed location relative thereto when the spring is in a compressed state, and means for expanding said spring element comprising a lever connected to one end of said spring element for temporarily increasing, with its activation, the straight-line distance between its ends and thereby separating the turns of the spring element so that strands of the hair of the wearer of the adornment can be inserted between the coil turns and, upon release of the spring expanding means, will be securely gripped between the adjacent spring coil coil turns, said lever also being in pivotable connection with said anchoring means at a position substantially adjacent said one end of said spring element.
 2. The adornment unit claimed in Claim 1 wherein said lever is a bellcrank lever.
 3. The adornment claimed in claim 2 comprising, in addition, means to limit the angle of bellcrank movement.
 4. The adornment unit claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition, means for temporarily holding the spring in an expanded state prior to release to grip the hair of the intended user.
 5. The unit claimed in claim 1 wherein a backing element is secured to the rear side of a visible adornment of selected design, and means to attach the spring to the backing element.
 6. The adornment unit claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition, means to secure the spring at a point between its end in its compressed state to the rear side of the unit, and means for stressing and expanding the spring relative to its securement point.
 7. The unit claimed in claim 2 comprising, in addition, an activating element at one end of the lever for controlling the spring expansion for attachment and spring compression for securement.
 8. The adornment unit claimed in claim 1 comprising, in addition, means for expanding the coiled spring element from each of its ends. 